Family of Boston bombing suspects received ‘stunning’ $100,000 in government benefits: report

Boston bombing suspects received up to $100,000 in government benefits: report

The two brothers involved in the Boston bombings and their family received as much as $100,000 in government benefits from Massachusetts, according to reports.

The largesse included cash and food stamps as well as help with housing in 2002-12.

In the documents that have yet to be released publicly, an anonymous source with direct knowledge of the details told the Boston Herald the welfare payments received over the 10 years were “stunning” in their breadth.

A full-scale investigation by a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is set be launched shortly to determine how the substantial sums involved were authorized and why they were granted over such an extended period of time.

David Linksy, a Massachusetts congressman, told the Herald the committee would thoroughly review all the details of the case.

Americans have a “substantial right to know what benefits, if any, this family or individuals accused of some horrific crimes were receiving,” he said.

Before the release of the $100,000 figure, it had also been reported Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old dead suspect, and his wife Katherine directly received a combination of tax-payer funded “assistance” in the form of food stamps and cash payments.

It also emerged an additional type of welfare called TAFDC (Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children) was deposited directly to Tsarnaev’s wife’s account as assistance of this kind is usually only provided for U.S. citizens.

The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who is being treated for his wounds at the Fort Devons medical detention centre 460 kilometres from Boston, is not considered to have been a direct beneficiary of the family’s state assistance in recent years.

Dzhokhar was the recipient of a scholarship from the University of Massachusetts and it is claimed that he also earned extra cash from minor marijuana dealing.

Transitional assistance officials said the agency was conducting its own investigation into whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s family ever notified the DTA about his extended trip to Russia. The agency has since expanded its probe to include a full history of the benefits received by the entire Tsarnaev family.